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The Alignment Effect of Auditing

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  • Johannes Gessner
  • Andreas Gerster
  • Michael Kramm

Abstract

There is growing evidence that households often forgo profitable energy efficiency retrofits, partly due to inattention and imperfect information about their economic benefits. We conduct an incentivized survey experiment to evaluate both the effecƟveness and the welfare implicaƟons of a widely used policy tool aimed at addressing this issue: providing information from an energy efficiency audit. In our incentivized experiment, participants in the treatment group receive personalized information about the potential cost savings from retrofitting their heating systems, while those in the control group do not receive such information. Our results show that providing this information does not increase the average willingness to pay for a retrofit.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Gessner & Andreas Gerster & Michael Kramm, 2025. "The Alignment Effect of Auditing," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_696, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_696
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    File URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp696
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    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

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